


Eimin no Gyoushi/Glare of Death

by yroceel



Category: Original Work
Genre: Assassin - Freeform, Dark, Elves, F/M, Fantasy, Gen, Magic, Samurai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:13:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29322978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yroceel/pseuds/yroceel
Summary: Arin, seeks a means to avenge the deaths of his three closest friends, and protect the innocents around him. Protecting the innocents from evil leads him down a dark path where he feels he must become as much a monster as those he protects others from. Can he redeem himself, and avenge his friends?





	1. Chapter 1

1

“Vengeance, my young friend, will lead you down a dark path. You may not recognize yourself when you have completed your journey, Boy. I have seen men become monsters to reach that end, and many regret taking that path. If you continue down this path that elf will have your head on a pike, mark my words.”

The young man sits silently, his face hidden behind a wall of neon green hair, as the old smith busies himself about preparing some food for his unexpected guest. The young man's clothes soaked in blood, and caked with mud, with dirt and mud clinging to his hands, and packed under his fingernails as if he'd recently been digging with his hands, though fresh blood dripped slowly from his fingertips as he sat there, his piercing blue eyes following the smith around as he moved about the room.

“I know a little bit about medicine,” the smith says as he brings the boy a bowl of yellow brown broth, with a heel of bread, “if you wouldn't mind me taking a look. Looking at you, I doubt you want to let one of the city's healer's look at you, especially at this hour. I'd wager a gold koban that any healer in the city would turn you over to the city guard at first sight in your condition.”

“What's to keep you from calling the guards then, Sir,” he asks as he reaches up to take the bowl and bread from the old man.

The old smith scowls then spits on the floor in disgust, “Those pigs would try to take my own property along with you. It's simply not worth it!” He pauses for a moment before pointing a gnarled finger at the young man's hands, “Besides, you've been through enough tonight.”

After swallowing a mouthful of bread he'd soaked in broth the young man looks to the older man frowning a bit. “So,” he says, “you've heard of the dark elf, Marngeeth, before? Does he come to these parts often?”

Shaking his head as he chuckles the smith says, “Ain't seen him since I was a boy, probably about your age. I watched him cut down five of the city's elite guardsmen in the blink of an eye when they tried to take his sword by force. He's a monster, that's for sure.” The smith moves to warm himself by the fireplace in silence for a moment. The young man begins to speak only to be cut off by the old man's voice, “That day, I was still just an apprentice. I was delivering a new daishō to a noble near by when I heard the ruckus, as young as I was I had to go see the fight.”

He sighs as he runs a hand over his face, every movement reflecting exhaustion, both physical from being roused from his bed in the middle of the night, and from a long life bent over an anvil. As he straightens himself up to finish his story several soft pops walk up his old spine, “It's illegal to carry a sword within the city if you're not a member of the nobility, or a soldier. He was recognized as neither, yet refused to comply and disarm himself. When I arrived the guard captain himself told him that he could keep his sword, so long as he didn't carry it on his person within the city. I had never seen a man with skin so dark before, thin, and lithe, and the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, no woman could touch his beauty.

“He refused to disarm, and told the guards that they could take his sword if they were capable. All five guards stepped forward as one. I didn't see the man move so much as I saw five flashes of light as his sword shined with each attack. He was fast enough to wipe his blade on one of the men's haori before them man fell. I remember him telling everyone present that 'Marngeeth will not yield his sword'. He continued on his way. I didn't hear about anything after that, but the look he gave me when his red eyes landed on me sent shivers of fear down my spine. I ran as fast as I could to get away.”

The young man nods as he drinks some of the broth from the bowl, speaking after a moment, “That sounds like the man I seek. He lured me to a place of battle today, and three of my friends were cut down. He killed my fa-” His words begin slurring so that they become unintelligible, his hands dropping the broth and bread as his fingers go slack and he falls to the side out of the chair, landing hard on the wooden floor.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

Arin wakes to the rhythmic ting of a hammer striking metal over and over. He rolls over onto his stomach, pulling the goose down stuffed pillow over his head to try to block out the sound. He felt like he was having a hangover, and his stomach protested loudly. After several minutes the sound of metal striking metal stopped and he heard the distinct sound of metal scraping on stone, and coals. He realized he was at a smith's house.

After pushing himself to his knees Arin looks around, a bandaged hand lifting to push bright green bangs from his face to see a bit better. A simple white yukata hung on a hook on the wall, though it was not the one he'd worn here, though at the moment he wore only bandages, so it would have to do.

“Where am I,” he asks himself as he moves to his feet, staggering weakly.

“You're at the house of an old black smith.”

Arin jumps, crying out in alarm as he looks around for the voice that had responded. His feet slip on the covers of the futon, his trembling legs failing to support him. With a loud, audible thud he lands on his back, groaning in pain. His paranoid eyes scan the room about him, though he sees nobody else present, at least until the door to the room bursts open and a young woman rushes in. “Are you alright,” she speaks out quickly, a deep flush covering her face when she finally sees the man, naked all except for the bandaged wrapped around his torso upper arms, and his right hand.

“Yes, yes I'm fine. I'm sorry to have bothered... you...” He pauses when he realizes that the girl is frozen in both fear and astonishment. With his own blush Arin grabs what he can of the covers, pulling them over his lap to cover himself. “Could you please hand me that yukata, please?”

_He's more handsome than I've been told_ , she thinks, unaware that he'd just asked her something. She thought his voice was a bit more rounded out than most men around his age, it wasn't quite deep, but it was definitely masculine. “Oh,” she says with a start, quickly looking around to offer him some sort of clothing. She takes the yukata off of the hook, the iron hanger had been crafted by the old smith himself, and was a rare commodity that always surprised her when she used one. “Here, put this on,” she says as she walks over to hand it to him, then stands there, her eyes on his.

After taking the offered yukata Arin looks back at the girl, flatly. “Are you planning on watching me get dressed, Miss?”

She's fairly comely, fair skinned for a Ceataran woman, with light brown hair, and hazel eyes. She wears a deep blue kimono, with a pair of brown hakama pants. “Oh?” She seems a bit lost for a moment before her face reddened like a tomato. “Oh,” she says again, “no nono!” With a quick backpedal she exits the room, sliding the door shut with a bang.

Arin smirks smugly as he listens to the sounds of her feet retreating down the stairs. After a moment more spent resting on the futon he begins to dress himself, inspecting his bandages as he does so. The sound of horses approaching in the distance catches his attention as he ties the kimono. He works to finish dressing as quickly as he can, listening as he does so. Five, no six horses, though he extends his awareness around, frowning at the realization that there were actually 9 men approaching; the six on horses, then three more coming from another angle, through the forest it seemed. The sound of the hoof beats told him that the smith had done well for himself throughout his life as the long road to his house had been paved with what sounded like cobble stones.

He begins drawing his senses back to himself before he realizes that the direction the three others were coming from was the direction of the battle he'd fought a few days prior. His fingers fly deftly through the knots required to hold the clothing on and in place, and quickly, every bit as nimble as those of an elf. He throws the door open as one of the men on the horses calls out to the smith, catching his attention.

“Hey, old smith!”

“What can I do for you, Son?”

The man looks to the man on his right, laughing a bit as he motions towards the old man. Once he looks back to him, that smug grin of a smile crossing his face, “Well, _Dad_ , there's a new tax that's been passed by your local Daimyō, and we're here to collect.” He looks around with an evil gleam in his eye as he begins appraising his surroundings.

The room Arin had been in was on the second floor, as he reaches the stairs to go down to the first floor he jumps over the banister, landing carefully before charging out side. As he throws the front door open he grabs the katana he'd come in with when he first met the old smith, then charges outside and to the group of men.

“What's this tax for?” Arin's voice was full of anger, his deep blue gaze icy as he stares daggers at the man that had been speaking to the old smith. Arin noticed right away the size difference between the two, with Arin weighing maybe a hundred pounds, and the other outweighing him by an easy fifty pounds, and almost a foot in height.

“What's it to you, shrimpy?” The sneer audible in his voice as he spoke. He gave Arin a momentary look over, quickly sizing the small man up to be no threat.

“This man has been kind to me, he took me in and gave me shelter. I'm not going to let you and your pathetic excuse for mages force him into giving you his money for some false tax. So, I ask again, what is this tax for?” Arin's voice was still full of rage, though he had yet to break a semi-friendly tone.

“Well,” the soldier says as he climbs down from his horse and takes a couple of steps towards Arin, “you see, there have been several reports of bandits in these parts, some rather large and quite skilled bands of bandits as well. One group was capable enough to take out an army after they had won a battle near by a few days ago. They apparently waited until the battle ended before attacking before the samurai could regroup themselves. Only one man was left alive, and he claims that it was a single man that was responsible for it.”

Arin scoffs, “So, it's protection money. And, if they don't pay one of your mages will set fire to the house. Sound about right? Though, isn't it a bad idea to put mages in heavy armor like that?”

The Smith looks over the men, as does the man that seemed to be in charge, before looking back to Arin, “And, just how do you know they're mages, you little shit? Are you a mage? No, of course not, I can't sense a magical presence from you, or a battle aura. So, how would you know any of them to be mages?”

Arin laughs, “You can't sense anything from me because I'm suppressing my aura. I can sense everything about you and your men though, and the three approaching through the forest to the north are each more magically gifted than all four of your mages combined. You and the woman seated on the spotted mare are both actual warriors, you have the stronger battle aura, but hers suggests that she's more capable than you in combat.”

“Tell me, Aki,” the leader says to the woman mounted on the mare, “what was the description the samurai gave of the man that he claims slaughtered two entire armies single handedly.”

The woman narrows her blue eyes on Arin for a moment, her lips lifting in a grin. “He said the man was of diminuitive stature, with bright green hair, and his eyes were glowing with rage. My lord commander, he fits most of the description, small enough to be mistaken for a child, his hair is the right color, but I'm afraid he's not throwing a tantrum for us. Perhaps we should take away one of his toys?” As she finishes speaking she lifts two fingers to her lips before muttering a few lines in an obscure language Arin had never heard before, only to pull her hand away from her face with a shriek of glee as bright blue flames engulf her entire hand, seeming to leave the flesh unburned, with her fingers pointed at the old smith. She held the spell ready to launch, her steely blue gaze locked on Arin as if challenging him to act.

Arin responds with a grin as he lowers his chin, hiding his eyes behind his neon bangs as he speaks in a low tone, barely above a whisper, “Arianthë högch tchila lâ vuschala!” The moment he finishes the sentence a burst of energy rushes out away from him in a ring, lifting dust and washing over all present as a sudden gust of wind. Every mage's attention suddenly locks onto Arin, their expressions, as one, of sudden, and crippling fear.

One of the mounted mages gasps out loud, “That's impossible. I've only seen a handful of mages with that much power, all of them arch mages.”

Arin seems unperturbed, the sudden rush of power seeming to vanish almost instantly as he takes a step forward, the motion causing Aki to flinch, releasing the fire spell she had aimed at the smith, the blue orb roaring to life as it breaks free from the mage's grasp, engulfing the old man before he had a chance to even lift a foot. Arin lifts his back foot as he moves forward, almost in slow motion before suddenly vanishing. As the flames roar in a swirling vortex around where the smith stood Aki grunts in pain before crying out louder, though the painful groan was more strained now. Aki kicked at nothing, even though she felt as if she was kicking something solid, though only the upper half of her back felt as if she were being pressed against a wall, her arm was now bent over Arin's shoulder, his fist closed with a crushing grip over the first three fingers, pulling them in such a way as to have dislocated them, with his other hand on her throat, squeezing with a deadly grip. “Now,” he says with a flat, and deadly edge that it didn't seem to possess before, “you are going to die, Aki.”

Aki's eyes narrow on Arin's as she gasps for air mouthing something as Arin's grip tightens on her throat. Rage flared up in Arin's eyes as he snarls, and releases her hand before grabbing the collar of the tunic she wore under her armor, and releases her throat. Allowing his hands to drop to his sides, still holding onto the collar of her tunic. He looks down to a spot dozens of yards below his feet, looking at the rest of the group that had turned up at the smith's house.

Aki looks around for a bit as her vision begins to come back together. Something didn't seem exactly right about their surroundings. Why were they above the trees? Above the trees? Her mind snaps back to clarity as she begins to grasp at his arm, and the sleeve of his yukata, “Don't drop me,” she pleads, her voice suddenly trembling with fear, “please. I don't know who you are, but please, I don't want to die.”

Arin looks back to her, lifting her back up to look her in the eye as he speaks, an ominous gleam in his eyes, “You made a mistake when you attacked an innocent man to provoke me to action. Now, you, and everybody that has come here this day will die, and their indiscretion will be reported to the city guard, before the day is done.” He tilts his head a bit, grinning, “Do you regret your decisions today, Aki?” As he speaks the sounds of a fireball erupt around them, swirling loudly around what was a moment before an invisible barrier, though now was a wall of green energy shielding the both of them from the foreign attack.

Aki scowls, spitting in his face, “Yes, I regret not attacking you first. I could have killed you then.” She snarls at him as she speaks, drawing her left hand back, gathering energy before condensing it and igniting it into flames.

Arin grins at the fight left in the desperate woman, though releases her collar, his right hand moving with a flash to draw her blade from it's sheath before turning his side to her to allow him to lift his left leg, drawing it back, and thrusting it out to slam him heel into her sternum with bone crushing force before he turns to face the rest of the men and women below as the fireball fades away. He looks back to Aki again, her own flame spell had been weak, and ended moments after she had passed through the barrier, and into the flaming miasmic cloud swirling around them. He could hear her screams of rage and fear as she archs through the air. He frowns before looking to the others, shifting the flow of energy to his barrier to tilt himself to an inverted angle to the ground before crouching and launching himself towards the group.

The commander scowls when he sees the flaming figure launch out from the side of his fireball, and looks to one of the other men, “Zuno, your aura's signature is speed.” He points to the smoking figure arching away from them, “Get to her, do not let her fall to her death, or I'll have your head, do you understand?” As he finishes issuing his command to Zuno the commander's horse rears up on it's hind legs, whinnying before bolting off, the commander falling to the ground.

Arin ignores the guard that darts past him, instead focusing on the larger threat. The three people he sensed seemed to be observing, which told him that they weren't associated with the men threatening the smith. His gaze snaps back to the captain, his lips curling into a snarl as the captain's sword begins to glow, runes carved into the side of the katana glowing red as a blue glow flows down the gently curved blade.

“I'm gonna split you from nose to naval,” the captain growls out, “you little shit. I don't, for one minute, believe that power you showed earlier was real. It couldn't have been anything more than an illusion.”

The small man tightens his grip on the sword in his hand as green energy seems to flow into the blade, the middle of the portion glowing a dull red as the metal heats up, a silent spell passing over his lips as he prepares for the impending attack. “I'd really enjoy seeing you do that, but I think you're too slow, and weak to be any form of a challenge to me. You're nothing more than a big, dumb, brute, after all. And, brute force alone isn't enough to win this fight.”

The captain laughs heartily now, “You're a brave little man, aren't you?”

Arin smirks, “Bravery requires me to feel fear, and neither of us are afraid.”

“Well,” says the captain, “my name is Ryonosuke. It is customary to give your own nae before a fight that could end your life.”

Arin nods, “Alright then. My name is-”

“Arin,” yells the old man as the cyclone of flames around him burns out around him, “You don't have to do this, we'll be al-”

“My name isn't Arin,” the small warrior says as he looks over to the old man, then back to Ryonosuke, “I am Vengeance, I am Retribution, I am Death. I am Eimin. And, are you sure you're ready for this fight?”

Ryonosuke scoffs as he sheaths his sword, “I see no reason why I should be afraid of a shrimp like you. You're not big enough to pose a threat.” As he speaks he charges forward, his voice raising to an angry roar by the end of the statement. As he draws closer to Eimin he draws his sword, using the same motion as an attack, slashing at the smaller man with all of the speed and strength he could muster.

Eimin grins, closing his eyes as he waits for the attack. As the blade moves closer to Eimin, in his mind, it seems to slow down, almost painfully so. Eimin drops down below the blade as it closes in to him, close enough that a few strands of neon green hair float slowly to the ground as the blade passes harmlessly overhead, the movement fast enough that Ryonosuke's reaction came too slow. Before the larger man could move Eimin pushed himself to his feet with such speed that the motion launched him upwards, his left hand closing in a tight fist before striking the group's captain squarely on the chin with a sickening crunch as the man's chin splinters, the force of the blow lifting him off of his feet. After his feet touch the ground again he jumps back up,landing on a shimmering, green, disk of energy before he pivots to kick the captain in the chest with a screech of metal, sending him flying away, and into the three men still mounted on their horses.

The sudden shock of their riders being dismounted sent the horses bolting off. The three mages cursed loudly as the heavy captain slammed into them. Ryonosuke stands up looking sternly at the three mages that had accompanied him. After the three look between themselves one stands, huffing a bit before waving her hand in front of her. The bones in the man's chin snap back together instantly knitting back whole.

After he turns to face Eimin again, he snarls as he speaks, “I'm going to kill you for that.” As he bites off every word the amount of magical energy he releases doubles as the air fills with static electricity. As he holds his sword in both hands the blade begins glowing brighter, electricity arching down and around the blade. He charges forward, holding the blade down and to his side. Eimin watches the other man with a flat stare, stepping back as the larger man slashed upwards.

White hot pain shot through every inch of Eimin's body as the smell of ozone filled his nostrils, his muscles rebelling against his commands. The slash was followed up with a horizontal slash level with his neck. As he stepped back he tripped, the muscle spasms in his legs tangling his feet up. He curses loudly, though Ryonosuke jumps back, readying his defenses for a spell. With shallow breaths he speaks loudly, “Well, Eimin, do you still think you're going to come out of this the victor? I'll give you a moment to stand, I wouldn't want to kill a swordsman that's unable to defend himself, after all. What would my men think about me, I would be dishonored.”

Eimin writhes about for a few moments as the electricity courses through his muscles, quickly fading away. As he begins to recover motor function again he rolls over onto his hands and knees. He pushes himself back up to his feet and turning to face Ryonosuke. He levels his gaze at the larger man, grimacing again, “Don't get so cocky. You had your chance to kill me just then, it's not my fault that you like the excitement of a fight enough that you didn't kill me. You don't care about honor.” Eimin's arms remain loose at his sides, the katana still in his grip. He turns his head, spitting a small clump of blood.

Ryonosuke laughs, his breathing having slowed to normal. He pushes the energy back into his sword before charging forward with a roar. The blade held low, and down to his left side again as before. Eimin smirks as the larger man draws nearer. This time, as the blade slashes through the air Eimin seems to vanish, reappearing in the blink of an eye behind Ryonosuke, slashing at the man's back. The screech of rending metal fills Ryonosuke's ears as he screams out in pain, the sensation of warm blood seems to spread across his back as he pants, falling to his hands and knees. His eyes widen when he feels cold steel press against his throat, the blade jagged, yet still seemed sharp.

“One of you just got a promotion. You can fight over it while I save your friend's life.” Eimin speaks to the other mages as he jerks the blade through Ryonosuke's neck before launching himself into the air. The mages look between themselves and Ryonosuke's lifeless body.

As Aki makes an arch through the sky she begins to panic, mentally cycling through the list of spells that she'd been able to master during her time at the Royal Mages' Academy in Ryuujin. Her eyes focus for just a brief moment on some movement on the ground. _“Oh, that must be Zuno,”_ she thinks to herself before beginning to try to figure out what spell to use. She reaches out in front of herself, opening her mouth to speak as a green disk of energy seems to appear in front of her. She slams into it with a scream of pain as the disk shatters, seeming to have no affect on her speed. After a moment she slams into another, then screams out again, her train of thought completely lost as she curls herself up, bursting through a third disk, now seeming to have been slowed a little bit by the third one. She looks over to see the fight where Ryonosuke had been fighting the small man. She grins when she sees the man drop to the ground, bracing herself for the impact of the fourth disk only to watch it, and every subsequent one after that disintegrate before her eyes.

Aki's eyes widen as she realizes that that little man was trying to save her, even while fighting a capable warrior like their commander. She suddenly didn't want Ryonosuke to win, she didn't care about his pride, his pride would kill her! She watches the little man stand just a moment later, and watches both square off once more, this time when Ryonosuke attacked the little man seemed to vanish, reappearing almost immediately behind Ryonosuke, facing the larger man as he fell. She watched as the smaller man moved over to Ryonosuke's side, placed his sword to the man's throat and ripped the blade through her captain's thick neck.  
  
Aki looks back to the ground beneath her, resolved to her fate now as she begins to draw closer to the trees beneath her. She closes her eyes only to find herself being caught almost immediately by somebody. She feels the small man crouch some as she opens her eyes, only for the world around her to become a blur of motion as they cut through the air. She feels the man land and set her down.


	3. Chapter 3

3

Arin stands back up, smiling, “Well, I'm glad I was able to get here in time. The old man is safe too.” He quickly turns around to see Zuno charging at him, moving faster than most humans would even be able to follow. Arin leaps upwards and backwards, landing on a tree branch before turning and launching himself away from the area, his feet leaving the branch just as it explodes from the impact of Zuno's fist. Arin continues to run away from Zuno, , knowing that the man would continue following. After a few moments they enter a large clearing. Arin stops about half way across the clearing and turns to face Zuno.

Zuno scowls at the smaller man, whom he outweighed by over a hundred pounds. Sweat beaded up on Zuno's forehead, and the exposed skin on his face, arms, neck, and chest glistened like black marble, though he didn't appear to be winded in the least with the pursuit. Arin breathed heavily for just a moment, though neither of them made a move to attack the other, they just stood several yards apart, watching each other for a moment, seemingly sizing one another up before making the first attack.

_“I know only that he's a powerful mage,”_ Zuno thinks to himself as he squares off against the smaller man, _“and a strong fighter. His magical presence seems to have only been mildly diminished, not enough to even be a factor. So, how will I beat him? He's faster than anybody else I've ever met, except maybe myself. I'll have to use the full power of my Battle Aura. He can't touch my speed then.”  
  
“Let me finish this!”_ A voice inside Arin's mind pleads, almost forcefully so.  
  


_“Who are you? And, why do you want to finish this in my stead?”_

_“Because you are weak. You lack the conviction required to slay your enemy.”_

_“Who are you?!”_

Zuno begins walking forward, the sweat on his body beginning to vaporize as the amount of power emanating from his body increases with each step. With an explosion of energy he seems to split into two copies of himself, the force of the energy burst sending cracks across the ground for several feet in each direction centered on each copy's feet. He grins before roaring out loudly, the amount of power his body exudes multiplying itself exponentially within just a matter of seconds before he launches himself forward, his energy output increasing more and more as he races forward towards his oponent, shouting out “I will end you, you little shit!”

Eimin grins, speaking in a low, and dangerous voice, “This body is mine now” before lifting his hand up and shouting out “Narn'guwashaou, iget zugar tembiorda”. The blade lifts up from the floor in the Smith's house and floats quickly through the house and out the opened door before shooting off over the tops of the trees, passing between two of the mages as it does so.

The incantation triggers something inside of Zuno, and with a sudden burst of speed the two Zunos surge forward, blades being drawn simultaneously as they reach Eimin. Eimin's right hand flashes to the sword sheathed on his left hip before tearing it from it's scabbard, the already gnarled blade catching one of the Zuno's swords, and pulling it over to intercept the other's blade. He jumps backward to put some distance between them before charging back in, his blade slashing through the air, fast as lightning, the blade glinting beautifully in the morning sun as one Zuno lifts his sword to intercept the chipped and cracked blade. Eimin's sword slash continues uninterrupted, it seems, though when the screech of rending steel fills his ears he cries out in pain, jumping back just in time to avoid a slash from the other Zuno.

Arin looks at the broken sword in his hand, grimmacing, “This steel is far too soft for me.” He seems to react out of instinct to the strikes that follow next. He somersaults backwards, using his empty hand to continue the maneuver on over to his feet, blocking a strike from one with the remainder of his blade borrowed from the battlefield of the day before he came to the smith's house, then steps in, swinging his fist swiftly at the man's chest.

Zuno leans back when he sees the blow approaching, though not swift enough to avoid the blow, only to mitigate some of the force, though it was still enough to send the larger man sailing through the air to land several feet behind where he'd been standing, sliding across the ground on his back. The second Zuno strikes out at Arin, only to find his blade cutting through the air where Eimin had stood just a moment before. Eimin was now several feet away, his armheld up, with a weapon of some kind held in his hand wrapped in leather. He takes hold of a leather string before giving a hard jerk on it, allowing the leather wrapping the blades to unbind, and fall away. Eimin shifts the double bladed weapon to his left hand, tossing the leather away before twirling the blade in a flourish of motion, finishing with the flat of one of the blades resting against the back of his right arm as he motions for the larger man to attack again.

The two Zunos regroup before growling out in anger, pushing their power up once more, the air shimmering around them with transparent purple and black flames. “There's no need for this to continue any longer,” one of the two Zunos says, the other finishing with “I'll finish you with my Battle Aura's ultimate technique.” Both Zunos grunt before the air ripples out away from him, heatwaves seeming to lift off of the ground, though the heatwaves shimmer and grow darker before taking a humanoid shape. Eimin grins as he watches 13 more copies of Zuno materialize from thin air.

“Is that supposed to bother me, Zuno?” Eimin chuckles smugly, “One of us won't walk away from here alive. Are you willing to make that sacrifice?”

The Zunos all respond in unison, “I swore my life to Ryonosuke. You're being here means you killed him, and my life is forfeit.” One of the Zunos steps forward now, speaking by himself, “Even after I take your life, I have sworn a vow. Upon the honor of my vow I will not walk away from this battlefield alive.”

Eimin's expression darkens then, the smile fading as he realized that this man would be fighting with everything he had in himself to ensure that Arin died here. Eimin charges forward as each of the Zunos does the same. All moving at super human speed, blades singing through the air, ringing with contact as steel meets steel. Strike, slash, parry, dodge, and weave, each man moved as a skilled swordsman would, Eimin blocking and parrying. His attacks were limited with having to defend from so many enemies. He stabs, slashes, and dodges, a deadly dance that was too dangerous for him to allow to continue.

After a few moments of the clash one of the Zunos cries out in pain as he drops to the ground, fading away a moment later only to be replaced by two more, the Zunos all grinning as Eimin realizes exactly how much danger he was in at the moment. He had the superior power, but this man had the numbers to make it difficult to deal with. Eimin cuts down Zuno after Zuno, each one being replaced by two more, but he couldn't feel the power of the collective waning in the least. _“Does he have a high enough mahna regeneration that this isn't drawing enough power to affect it? How long can he keep this up?”_ Eimin frowns as he continues striking down the enemies, more and more of them rising, and each new one moving faster and faster than before. After a few moments Eimin roars out in a rage as a green sphere of energy engulfs him, exploding outwards, disintegrating all of the Zunos except for two. Eimin pants as the two Zunos multiply themselves again as if it was nothing. Eimin straightens up again, smiling as he speaks out quickly,“Arianthë högch tchila lâ vuschala.” The air surrounding him shimmers as if one were looking through waves of intense heat, static electricity seeming to crackle through the air around him and his eyes dully glowing a light green color.  
  
Zuno grins as he begins to speak, one Zuno beginning with “You're like me,” another picks up with, “It seems.” Another adds “We both seem to possess,” the thought is picked up by another one of his clones, “both a Battle Aura,” another finishes with “and a Magical Presence. However,” the entire group of Zunos speak in unison “nobody has ever seen this and survived. It's time to die.” Each one of them extends a hand out towards Eimin with a sinister grin, each of them quickly chanting the words to a different spell. Orbs of energy begin to form before their outstretched hands; red, blue, green, purple, white, yellow, and black.

Eimin grimaces as the sentence is transferred between the different clones of Zuno, his gaze shifting between the men before him as he judges the amount of power each of them is generating as he judges how much power he would need exactly to be able to just place a barrier strong enough to withstand the burst of spells aimed at him, trying to judge the way that opposing magics would amplify or weaken each other. He thought he had access to enough power at the moment to be able to withstand it, but was still a bit worried. After a moment of gathering power, and Eimin judging how best to attack all of the copies of Zuno release their spells all at once. Lightning bolts drop from the sky, the ground erupting beneath Eimin, rays and pillars of flame springing forth, with rays of ice and acid, and spikes of rock and earth shooting upward as pillars, all centered on Eimin. A roar of challenge and pain erupts from Eimin as the spells hit home.

Zuno grins widely as he steps forward, the magic cutting off after a moment, and all of his clones fading away. He had a very high mahna regeneration, though even using that much power took a toll on his mahna reserves, it would be several minutes before he could use his magic at such a degree again. He approaches the crater his display of magical prowess had created and laughs, “Such arrogance. He was-” He cuts the sentence off with a sudden gasp as a breeze shifts the smoke enough to briefly reveal the edge of a barrier of energy.

“Is that the fullest extent of your power, Zuno?”

With a chuckle Zuna shakes his head, “Not quite. But, I don't see you surviving another volley of magic like that again.” As Zuno speaks the volume of his voice increases, until it is at a roar, his aura increasing in intensity as well so that the power emanating from his body and voice was enough to shake the ground as he spoke. “But, don't worry, Arin, I'll hit you with everything I have this time. That was about sixty percent of the power I can produce. This is everything!”

As Zuno speaks Eimin leaps up out of the crater, a few of the earthen spikes crumbling as he crashes through them. He repeats his incantation once more, this time green flames burst forth from his body, his long hair whipping about violently with his eyes glowing a bright incandescent green. “You're strong, Zuno, it's a shame that you have vowed to not walk away from this fight. I'll meet your full might with sixty percent of my power.”

Zuno multiplies himself again, fourteen copies of himself in the blink of an eye, all speaking in unison with a chuckle, “Then you will die if you do not meet me with your full might as well.” The small army of Zuno's charge forward. Though, this time, Eimin doesn't move to avoid the attacks this time, instead he walks forward, with slow deliberate steps.

Light flashes around Eimin as he walks forward, the clones of Zuno falling quickly, with little visible movement from Eimin. Zuno grimaces before splitting himself into even more clones, each seeming to possess the same amount of power as all of the ones that had already been created. Eimin's eyes flash for a brief moment before his entire body seems to blur for a moment before all of the copies of Zuno fall, only to be replaced near instantly. Eimin grins now, “So, you're going to continue this game of yours? I've already shown you that it won't work.”

Zuno grins as all of the clones seem to suddenly increase in speed, one of the clones placing a forceful hand on Eimin's shoulder, only for the arm to erupt in blood as it's sliced into smaller pieces, at the same time a pillar of lightning drops from the sky as that clone of Zuno falls back roaring in pain.

The pillar of lightning stops just a couple of feet above Eimin's head, a barrier shaped like a bowl made of green energy catching the blast as Eimin walks on, smirking smugly even as the loud cacophony of the lightning blast is punctuated by the cracking of the barrier. Once Eimin is safely away from the blast of lightning his barrier crumbles, the pillar crashing into the ground carving out a crater as deep as guraunt is tall. Eimin walks slowly towards Zuno, the air crackling with neon electricity as his eyes glow brightly. Green flames seem to lick into existence several feet from him, fading almost as suddenly as they appeared, the energy in the air waving as if it was heat lifting off of the ground.

Zuno looks around, his eyes wide as he takes in the vastness of this little man's power, his clones being struck down as fast as they appear, regardless of how far they were from Eimin. At first he could see Eimin appear, briefly, next to one of the clones before it was struck down, though as the energy gathered around the fight Zuno had stopped seeing even a flicker of motion from Eimin as he walked towards him. _What can I do against this monster?_ he thinks as he looks around, noticing how time itself seemed to slow to a crawl, however, Eimin seemed unaffected.

“I am,” Zuno says to Eimin in a tone that showed admiration, and respect, “a god among men with my power, and yours dwarfs me. What would you call yourself?”

Eimin scoffs. “Gods,” he says with a sneer, “are not real. If I had to compare myself to something akin to a god, I would be a dragon among men. Færünavo, llavuka häishnk!” Zuno's eyes widen as he opens his mouth to speak, only for the entire world to erupt into white hot pain. Massive pillars of fire erupt from the ground, engulfing every copy of Zuno in it's own pillar, as well as the original. The pillars burn white hot, scorching the ground, and setting nearby trees aflame. After a few moments Eimin whispers “Surnäto.” With the barest breath of a word the pillars of flame snuff out, the roar of a raging fire fading instantly, leaving the area in a deafening silence, with the flames in and on the near by trees snuffing out with the sudden influx of air to the center of the clearing in a momentary vortex. Where the pillars had erupted from had been fertile soil, though now appeared as black rock, cracked with veins of glowing red, molten rock exposed on the surface as well.

Zuno had managed to place several barriers up around himself, one after the other as the collapsed from the damage from the fire. Zuno stands on the crackling ground, bare footed, and naked, covered in burns now. “How,” he gasps out in a horse voice, blood dripping over his lips and down his chin, “are you this strong?”

“Færünave,” Eimin says softly in response. This time, the singular pillar of flame swirls around Zuno, the fire roaring with such intensity that it could be felt as both wind and a shock wave. After a moment Eimin's own body begins to smoke as he holds the spell with such intensity. The smell of burning flesh was almost completely absent, replaced instead with the smell of burning wood, vegetation, and brimstone.

With the wave of a hand Arin speaks again, “Surnäto,” once again ending the spell so suddenly that the flames that had erupted nearby were again snuffed out. Zuno's remains were left standing, still smoldering, with a look of both shock, and pain locked onto his features. A breeze blows, cool and soft against Eimin's skin, though gentle it was still enough to dislodge a few flecks of soot from Zuno's remains. After a few moments ashes fall off of his arm, then his hand, his remains slowly falling to just a pile of ashes.

As the gentle breeze blows Eimin, his body feeling as if it was ablaze on the inside drops to his knees, the world spinning around him as he collapses forward, the sudden, and massive, exertion of energy taking it's tole on him. How much of his full might had he used on Zuno? This sort of a reaction shouldn't happen unless he had used more of his power than he thought he had. Eimin's world goes dark as his face comes to rest in the dust, the jarring impact not registering as he slips into unconsciousness again.


End file.
